The Art of Disappearing
by Winged Monkey
Summary: Oneshot. Anniversary fic. Master Splinter decides that it's time for the turtles to learn a new skill. Unfortunately, it soon backfires on him and chaos descends upon the lair.


_A/N: Well, hello everyone! Today marks one whole year since I joined this wonderful site and began to post fanfiction. In celebration, I'm giving you all a new story! Thanks to Georgia for the inspiration through her story "Sensei Watches Too Many Soaps"! _:)

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable**

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"Very good, my sons. And now, you may pick what new skill you would like to learn and, if it is within my ability, I shall teach it to you." Master Splinter looked benevolently upon his sons expressions, ranging between pretend indifference to unbridled excitement. "What do you desire to learn, my sons?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Michelangelo waved his hand around in the air. "I know what I wanna learn!"

"And what is it that you wish to know?"

"I wanna know how the Foot Elites keep appearing and disappearing all the time! 'Cause they're all like 'poof!' 'poof!' and 'whoosh-look out!'" He beamed at the astonished looks on the other turtles' faces.

"I've always wanted to know how they do that," Donatello agreed.

"Do you know how to do that, Master?" Leonardo ventured. "No offence, but I've never seen you do it before."

"Yeah, Sensei," Raphael added. "I mean, ya coulda laid some serious smack-down on a lot of goons with that." He punched the air twice for effect.

The rat smiled. "Yet if I did use that technique, it would have meant leaving you all behind and that is one thing I refuse to do. What about you, Leonardo? What technique would you choose to learn?"

The eldest turtle's eyes shone wistfully. "I believe I agree with Mikey and Don, Master. That _would_ be a very useful skill to know, especially for future battles."

"I see. And you, Raphael? Would you also choose to learn this?"

"Shell, yeah! Oops, sorry Master Splinter."

"It is alright, my son. Since it seems as though you are all in agreement, I shall teach you the art of appearing and disappearing at will—Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu."

"Dude, that's one long name!"

"Sshh!" Donatello jabbed his elbow into Michelangelo's side.

Ignoring the interruption, Master Splinter began his explanation. "Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu is a very dangerous technique that deals primarily with the control of one's chi. It requires even more control than the feats you learned from the Ninja Tribunal, as you will be essentially travelling through the spirit world and back into this one. The reason this technique is so dangerous is that it requires a very large amount of chi to be used and can quickly drain all energy from a body. Because of this, you promise me that you will only use it when your life is in danger."

"We promise, Sensei," the four turtles chorused.

"Good. Then this is what you do."

An hour later, the turtles all sat meditating as per Splinter's instructions. The rat watched their still forms breathe quietly in and out, so peaceful, so calm—

"Sensei, I'm bored! It isn't working." Well, scratch the calm line.

"You must picture in your mind where it is you want to go, Michelangelo," Master Splinter instructed with a sigh. "Then will yourself there. Perhaps you should start with someplace in the lair which you are fond of. Someplace close by."

"Ok…" The youngest turtle let out an annoyed moan.

All of a sudden, there was a large _poof_ from where Leonardo had been only nanoseconds before. In answer, a _poof_ sounded on the other side of the dojo and the eldest turtle appeared, standing next to the weapons rack. Almost immediately, he fell to his knees. "Wow…"

"Well done, Leonardo. You have successfully completed Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu. Rest now."

Leonardo merely nodded in response and sat down in front of the weapons rack. Silence descended upon the lair once more but was almost immediately interrupted by another _poof_. Michelangelo appeared in mid-air, right above Raphael's head. Gravity grabbed him.

"UMPH! GET OFFA ME!"

"Umm…I meant to do that?"

"You did, huh? Then you'd better start runnin'!"

"Raphael!" Splinter brought his walking stick down on the head of his second oldest son as the youngest rolled away. "Let Michelangelo be. Focus your energy instead on transporting yourself. Michelangelo, you are excused from further practice today."

"Thanks, Sensei." Standing up with a bit of a wobble, he headed out of the dojo and collapsed on the couch in front of the television unit. Before he could even start flipping channels, he was asleep.

Sometime later, the movement of the couch awakened him as Raphael flopped down beside him. "You do it, dude?"

"Yeah. Don too."

"Still feel like chasing me around the lair?" The corners of Mikey's mouth creased into a smirk.

"Shaddup an' turn on somethin' good."

"You mean you don't want to watch some Korean-language soap opera? Things are just about to get mushy!"

Raphael threw him a glare while Michelangelo just laughed and turned to the Discovery Channel.

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Over the next several weeks, they trained everyday and they began to increase both their stamina and distance. Michelangelo, especially, excelled in his practices. Yet it was not apparent how well he had mastered the technique until one day he appeared in the kitchen next to Splinter, surprising the rat so much that he almost dropped his cup of tea.

"Michelangelo! Did I not specifically say that you are to use Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu _only_ when your life is in danger?"

"Um, it kinda is, Sensei." The youngest looked around nervously as the enraged voice of Raphael reached the rat's ears.

Master Splinter sighed. "And what prank is it that you pulled to so infuriate your brother, my son?"

"I just might have painted his finger and toenails bright red while he was sleeping." Splinter could not tell if the look on his youngest son's face was one of pride or one of fear. He shook his head.

"Found ya, dipstick! Oh…hi, Sensei." Raphael skidded to a stop in front of the kitchen door.

"I see you are making quite the fashion statement this afternoon."

"Well a certain somebody's gonna also be makin' a fashion statement. I hear black an' blue's the in colors this season." He punched his palm.

Michelangelo squeaked. "Come on, Raph! The red matches your bandana and it makes you look all fierce like your hands are dripping in blood or something!"

"You ain't always gonna have Sensei right there, Mike. An' when he's not…" Raphael let his threat trail off as he stormed away.

"Master Splinter, what do I do?"

"As many wise men have said over the millennia, you reap what you sow. Now, it is time for my stories. I will see you at evening practice, my son."

As Splinter left the room, Michelangelo began to pace nervously. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his hot-headed brother approaching. He darted out of the kitchen and started to run towards his room.

"Get back here!"

"No way!" In a flash of smoke, he vanished and reappeared in his room. Seconds later, Raphael appeared beside him.

"You aren't getting' away that easy!"

With a yell, Michelangelo again _poof_-ed away, landing in Donatello's laboratory. The scientific turtle jumped back from the drawing board as his brothers suddenly appeared next to him. Before he could say anything, Raphael also appeared in a puff of smoke. With a girly scream, Michelangelo disappeared again as the eldest of the three turtles fell onto his hands and knees.

"Master Splinter's going to throw a fit if he finds out about you two misusing the Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu," Donatello exclaimed in annoyance as he tried to still his pounding heart. "Just what the shell do you think you're doing anyway?"

"Sorry, Don," Raphael answered as he pushed himself to his feet and hurried towards the door. "MICHELANGELO! JUST YOU WAIT!"

The turtle in question crouched panting in a corner of Raphael's room—the last place his hot-headed brother would think to look for him. Much to his dismay, the very turtle he was hiding from chose that very moment to come into his own room, mumbling murderously. His eyes instantly focused on his youngest brother.

"Mikey, you are so dead! _No one_ come inta my room, 'specially after doin' what _you_ did!"

Wide-eyed, Michelangelo stared up at him. "Since you don't want me in your room, I'll just leave now. Then we'll both be happy."

"Too late for that."

Before Raphael could react, Michelangelo disappeared before his eyes, leaving only an acidic smoke behind.

Leonardo was knocked forcibly out of meditation as Michelangelo landed on top of him. "What on earth, Mikey? Is something wrong? Someone trying to get into the lair?"

However, Michelangelo was unable to answer. To Leonardo's horror, he appeared to be slowly melting through his arms and puddling on the floor.

"SPLINTER! SENSEI! COME QUICK! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH MIKEY!!"

Master Splinter leaped up off of the sofa and ran to the eldest's room but by the time he arrived, all that was left of Michelangelo was a puddle of green goo with two eyes and an orange bandana floating in it.

"Leonardo, my son, what happened?"

"I-I don't know, Sensei. Mikey suddenly appeared in my room and started dissolving. Now he's like this! What do we do, Master Splinter?"

The rat stared in shock at the remains of his youngest son. "I am afraid I do not know." He reached down and petted Klunk as the cat rubbed up against his leg. "I have never seen anything like this."

Klunk moved forwards and began to sniff his master's remains while the two eyes winked in quick succession. Gingerly, the cat touched the goop. The moment his paw withdrew from the sludge, Klunk began to increase in size. Turning towards Master Splinter, he began to grin, showing every tooth in his mouth as though he was trying to do an impression of his wonderland relative. Feeling very uneasy, the rat backed towards the door, but Klunk leaped over his head and blocked his escape. "Leonardo, get this beast away from me!"

"Aw, he wants to play with you, Sensei," the turtle replied, seemingly unfazed by the sudden change in Klunk's appearance.

"Leonardo…" Master Splinter held out his walking stick in a defensive posture.

"Just relax, Master Splinter. Everything will be alright."

The rat spun around to face his student and noted with horror that Leonardo's face was contorted to match that of Klunk's.

"Yes, it will be alright, Master Splinter," said Raphael and Donatello's voices from behind him. He turned to see the contorted faces of his two other sons right before Klunk lunged forwards and swallowed him in one bite.

Splinter found himself falling through a void, unable to grab anything, unable to see anything. There were only the voices all around him.

"Alonzo! How could you!"

"I did not do it, my love! How could I? For—"

"Sensei? Are you alright? Mikey, come get your cat!"

"Aw, isn't that cute? He likes him!"

"…you have betrayed me for the last time! No more will I be yours!"

"If he was a hundred times larger, he'd probably try to eat Master Splinter!"

"No he wouldn't! Klunk's nice!"

"Victoria, I cannot take this anymore! It ends now!"

"Master Splinter? Wake up!"

There was the sound of gunshots and Master Splinter awoke with a start just in time to see Victoria crumple to the ground, Alonzo standing over her with a smoking gun. Leonardo moved between him and the television, still shaking his shoulder gently. "It's okay, Sensei. You were just having a bad dream."

"A dream? The Shutsubotsujizai-jutsu?"

"The what? It was just a dream, Sensei. Unless it was one of your visions?" Leonardo lifted Klunk away from where he was sleeping curled around Master Splinter's neck and set the cat upon one of the sofa cushions.

"No…just a dream. These repeats of my stories have succeeded only in making me sleep. I am afraid that the emotions between Alonzo and Victoria simply entered the dream realm and found me there."

"Well, okay then." Leonardo walked away as his master settled back into the cushions.

_I shall not teach them that technique, not just yet,_ Splinter decided as he remembered the details of his nightmare. _Perhaps in a year or so…_

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